Update on Mr. W

We went to court today for W's mom's initial termination hearing.  The dad's hearing was last week and he of course denied the termination (since this is all a conspiracy against him and all). 

We waited in the waiting area (which was packed) for about an hour and a half.  I hate that part. We always sit by W's mom, it would be weird to walk past her and sit across the room.  So anyway, there we are sitting by her, with the CASA on the other side and the case manager there too.  We all want to talk about the case because we don't have that many chances to get caught up on any changes that may be going on.  But, we can't really talk because the mom is sitting there, so we all scramble around to find something to talk about for what feels like an eternity.  The whole time the mom is sitting there looking like she could break down at any moment. Its stressful.

So, finally the caseworker called us back to the hall outside the court room because we were next.  We waited out there for another 10 or 15 minutes.  Well, Nathan gets fed up with everyone walking on egg shells all the time when he feels like they should be more upfront.  So, he says to the caseworker, while the mom is standing right there, "I just hope this all gets done soon, W is getting big enough that its going to start affecting him".  No one really says anything, but I'm pretty sure I felt daggers coming from the moms eyes and heading toward Nathan. 

So we went into the court room finally. The judge went through some technical stuff with the mom as far as what termination means and why DCS was requesting it.  He told her she could accept these charges and waive her right to a trial, but then he said he was accepting her denial.  I wasn't sure how he knew she wanted to deny since he didn't ask her, but that's what happened.  I'm sure she would have denied anyway. 

Then a weird thing happened.  The mom's lawyer started whispering to her and then he told the judge she wanted more visit time.  Where did that come from? We were there for termination.  The time for more visits has past (quite a long time ago!). The caseworker explained to the judge that she had planned to reduce visits soon because it was nearing termination.  The judge didn't make a decision right then, but said he will likely keep visit time at DCS discretion. 

Also, a fact finding hearing was not set because a status hearing was set for April 8.  I have never heard of a status hearing and I don't know why he set it. But he made it clear that the mom did not need to be there for it.  I guess, after this status hearing takes place, the fact finding will be scheduled.  All I took from that was this is all going to drag out longer. 

So, not much happened today and it took a long time to get that accomplished.